James Anderson, a former fund manager and a director at Hearts FC, has gifted a European university £80 million in what is one of the largest ever donations of its kind.

Mr Anderson, 63, and his wife, Morag, have given the sum to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Bologna, Italy.

The cash will help create a research hub for students and faculty and offer “multidisciplinary solutions to global problems”.

Edinburgh-based Mr Anderson studied international affairs at SAIS in 1981 and went on to spend almost four decades with Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh investment house, until retiring this year. He ius the chairman of the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe Advisory Council.

He told The Times: “SAIS Europe has taught me that it is vital for leaders to think critically and imaginatively about complex problems that have no easy answers.

“I believe that it is essential to make it possible for the most talented and engaged students to study with our faculty and each other in Bologna regardless of their ability to pay for it, and to create opportunities to amplify Johns Hopkins’ impact across borders and oceans.”

Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and the donation allows it to expand its European campus. It will rename it the James and Morag Anderson Campus.

Ron Daniels, the president of Johns Hopkins, said: “The gift from James and Morag Anderson is transformational.”

Mr Anderson has made other donations to grassroots football, the arts, charity and education.

Former student backs business competition

A healthtech pioneer is helping Scotland’s next generation of entrepreneurs by backing one of the country’s business competitions.

Christopher McCann, founder and CEO of Current Health, and his partner Dr Jo-Ann Nugent have pledged a £25,000 cash prize to the winner of the University of Dundee’s McGhee Award, part of the institution’s annual Venture competition for start-up businesses.

The award will recognise and support business concepts with impact, global growth and scalability ambitions.

Mr McCann, who developed his own business concept whilst studying Medicine at Dundee, said that his time on campus had inspired him to support those with their own entrepreneurial ambitions.

He sold Current Health to US-based consumer electronics retailer Best Buy in October 2021.